last week’s grace was a community meal around which we explored the idea of calling. the title of the service was the becomning inspired by a poem by kate tempest of that name. the outline for the service including the various prayers and pieces of liturgy have been added to the grace archive here. the final ritual involved taking a white stone inspired by the text in revelation – to the one who prevails i will give a white stone with a new name written on it, exploring the sense that we are always becoming. a play around this idea of knowing and not knowing, calling and growing, being and becoming, arriving and not arriving was that joel created two video loops with neon lettering flashing that we put on a screen in the entrance to the church saying you’ve arrived as people came in and you’ve not arrived as they left. we used (and reworked the final few lines of) this blessing from john o donahue’s book benedictus at the end. i so love that book… anyway all this seems worthy of bundling into a worship trick – no 11 in series 4

May the blessings released through your hands
cause windows to open in darkened minds

May the suffering your calling brings
be but winter before the spring

May the companionship of your doubt
Restore what your beliefs leave out

May the secret hungers of your heart
harvest from emptiness its secret fruit

May your solitude be a voyage
into the wilderness and wonder of God

May your words have the prophetic edge
to enable the heart to hear itself

May the silence where your calling dwells
foster your freedom in all you do and feel

May you find words full of divine warmth
to clothe others in the language of dawn

May your potentiality be released
to explore new horizons of what’s possible

May your becoming bring gentle surprises
as you remember you’ve not arrived